Review: Slanted — A Bold, Thought-Provoking Take on Identity and Assimilation

Shirley Chen and McKenna Grace anchor Slanted, a sharp social satire exploring identity, beauty, and belonging.

One thing that always deserves recognition is when filmmakers of color step forward and tell stories about identity, assimilation, and what it actually means to grow up in America while trying to hold onto who you are. That’s exactly what Amy Wang delivers with Slanted, a film that’s less about horror in the traditional sense and more about the lived experiences that many people still navigate every single day.

There’s always been this conversation—whether people want to admit it or not—about proximity to whiteness. It’s something that has shaped generations, not just through direct prejudice, but through culture, media, and what’s been presented as “ideal” for decades. At the same time, there’s always been pride in heritage, in culture, in identity. And Slanted lives right in that tension.

The film follows Joan Huang, played by Shirley Chen, a young woman who immigrates to America with her parents at a young age and grows up surrounded by those expectations. Like many people, she becomes consumed with the idea of fitting in, of being accepted, of aligning herself with what society has always placed on a pedestal. It’s not new, and it’s not unique to one group—it’s something that spans across communities—but the way the film presents it feels grounded in truth.

The concept takes a sharp turn when Joan is introduced to a company called Ethnos, led by R. Keith Harris, offering a procedure that allows individuals to transform into white versions of themselves. It’s an absurd premise on paper, but that’s exactly why it works. It exaggerates something that has always existed beneath the surface and forces it into the open.

After undergoing the transformation, Joan becomes “Jo Hunt,” played by McKenna Grace, and one of the most impressive aspects of the film is how seamless that transition feels. Grace doesn’t just step into the role—she continues it. You can still feel Joan within Jo, and that consistency between the two performances is what really holds the film together.

What stands out even more is how the film handles the family dynamic. Joan’s parents, played by Vivian Wu and Fang Du, are forced to accept a reality that most films wouldn’t even attempt to explore—what happens when your child literally transforms into something else, into something society has told them is better. There’s something both surreal and very real about those interactions, and it’s one of the strongest parts of the film.

This is where Slanted separates itself from what people might expect. It’s not a horror film in the way it’s being marketed. There are elements there—the transformation, the concept, the discomfort—but this is much more of a conversational drama with satirical edges. The “horror” isn’t in jump scares or gore. It’s in the reality of what people feel, what they internalize, and what they think they have to become in order to survive or succeed.

And that’s where the divide is going to come in for audiences. There are going to be people who walk into this expecting something traditionally scary and walk out disappointed. But for those who understand what the film is actually saying, it hits on a completely different level. The discomfort is intentional. The commentary is the point.

What Amy Wang does here is present something that many people experience but don’t always articulate. The idea that even with the best intentions—from parents, from society, from anyone trying to create a better life—there are still consequences. There are still pressures. And often, it’s the younger generation that carries those burdens the most.

The film is smart in how it builds its world. The transformation concept is handled in a way that feels believable within the story, and the interactions that follow—especially between Jo and her family—are where the film really shines. It also raises questions that don’t have easy answers, and it doesn’t try to provide them.

There are moments where you feel like the film could have pushed even further, especially when it comes to expanding the perspectives around Joan’s experience. But even with that, what’s here is strong, focused, and very intentional.

At the end of the day, Slanted is not about being scary. It’s about being honest. It’s about identity, perception, and the cost of trying to become something you think the world will accept more than who you already are.

And whether people want to admit it or not, that’s a conversation that’s still very relevant.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5